An ActiveQuery can be a normal query or be used in a relational context.
ActiveQuery instances are usually created by [[ActiveRecord::find()]].
Relational queries are created by [[ActiveRecord::hasOne()]] and [[ActiveRecord::hasMany()]].
Normal Query
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ActiveQuery instances are usually created by [[ActiveRecord::find()]].
Because ActiveQuery extends from Query, one can use query methods, such as [[where()]],
[[orderBy()]] to customize the query options.
ActiveQuery also provides the following additional query options:
- [[with()]]: list of relations that this query should be performed with.
- [[asArray()]]: whether to return each record as an array.
These options can be configured using methods of the same name. For example:
php
$customers = Customer::find()->with('orders')->asArray()->all();
Relational query
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In relational context ActiveQuery represents a relation between two Active Record classes.
Relational ActiveQuery instances are usually created by calling [[ActiveRecord::hasOne()]] and
[[ActiveRecord::hasMany()]]. An Active Record class declares a relation by defining
a getter method which calls one of the above methods and returns the created ActiveQuery object.
A relation is specified by [[link]] which represents the association between columns
of different collections; and the multiplicity of the relation is indicated by [[multiple]].
If a relation involves a junction collection, it may be specified by [[via()]].
This methods may only be called in a relational context. Same is true for [[inverseOf()]], which
marks a relation as inverse of another relation.